Newgate Prison Wall Newgate Prison Wall Rent a Castle Whether it's a folly for 2 or a fort for 20, try our castles for rent page. By Ben Johnson | Comments ‘Tis impossible to describe the terror of my mind, when I was first brought in, and when I looked around upon all the horrors of that dismal place... : the hellish noise, the roaring, swearing, and clamour, the stench and nastiness… joined together to make the place seem an emblem of hell itself, and a kind of entrance to it.' Newgate Prison was once the most notorious prison in London. Commissioned in the 12th century by King Henry II , Newgate Prison remained in use all the way through to 1902. The prison itself was originally built into a gate on the old Roman wall (hence the name “Newgate”) although it was rebuilt numerous times during its lifespan. For over 600 years the prison was renowned for its appalling conditions. It was said that the prison was so dirty and squalid that the floors crunched as you walked due to all of the lice and bedbugs.

The women’s area was equally as appalling, crowded with half naked women, drunk, sometimes deranged, in leg irons and often with their children in tow. After its final rebuild in 1782 the prison was divided into two sections; a common area for the general public as well as a State area for those who could afford more comfortable accommodation. At the same time as the prison rebuild, the site for London’s public gallows moved from Tyburn (in the modern day West End) over to Newgate Prison. This meant that the public executions were now held in the heart of the City of London, drawing large audiences all the way up until the public executions were abandoned in 1868. To understand the scale of capital punishment at Newgate Prison, it is said that between 1790 and 1902 over one thousand people were put to death there alone. During the period of public executions, these were carried out outside of Newgate Prison on the Old Bailey Road. The church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate also has a rather ghoulish part to play in the executions.

At midnight on the eve of an execution, a bellman would walk along the prison tunnels ringing ‘twelve solemn towels with double strokes’ on his handbell whist chanting "All you that in the condemned hold do lie, Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die; Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near That you before the Almighty must appear; Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not to eternal flames be sent: And when St. Sepulchre's bell tomorrow tolls, The Lord above have mercy on your souls.” Although Newgate Prison has long gone, the Newgate Execution Bell still exists and is housed in the Church of St Sepulchre. The Central Criminal Court (a.k.a. the Old Bailey) now stands on the site of the old Newgate Prison. However, if you venture around the back of Amen Court (see map below) you will find something quite spectacular; the only surviving wall of Newgate Prison! Newgate Prison | London By Gaslight London By Gaslight eclectic musings on Victorian Britain Search by Mark Newgate Prison closed in 1902. It had been operating for about 700 years.

It was notorious and had held some surprising criminals such as: Daniel Defoe (Who wrote Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe William Kidd (the pirate known as Captain Kidd) Lord George Gordon – UK politician whom the Gordon Riots are named after Sir Thomas Malory – highwayman, possible author of Le Morte d’Arthur Catherine Murphy, an English counterfeiter who became the last woman to be officially executed by burning in England and Great Britain in 1789 – Ouch! Newgate Prison in London, 1900. Built in 1188 and rebuilt in 1782, it was finally demolished in 1902, and the Old Bailey built upon the site. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) And many, many others. Reformer Elizabeth Fry had for some time been particularly concerned at the conditions in which female prisoners and their children were held (yes children went to prison or were born in prison and stayed with their parents). She presented credible evidence to the House of Commons and improvements were made. In 1858, the interior was rebuilt with individual cells.

A big draw for Newgate were public hangings (I can’t think of anything worse!) these were crowded affairs and many people would gather to see these criminals hang. In fact one of the great events in the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign was a public hanging, a bit like a royal wedding in that the number of spectators might range anywhere from 20,000 up to 100,000, the number, according to The Times, attending Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for the mutiple hanging of four men on 11 September 1863. In amongst the mob one found many of the labouring classes; mill-hands, factory girls and women, bricklayer’s labourers and dock workmen, either hoping for some entertainment on their way to work or enjoying St. Monday.

Women and children were frequent spectators and at the last public execution in England, The Times commented on the “blue velvet hats and huge white feathers which lined the great beams which kept the mass from crushing each other in their eagerness to see a man put to death.” At any execution one might see ragged children darting to and fro to “play their usual pranks at the foot of the gallows.” For about 60% of offences punishable by the death sentence, the magistrates recorded that it had been carried out, then gave a less serious punishment. As the century went on, the number of people who were sentenced to be hanged decreased. Between 1801 and 1837, 13 executions took place in Bedford, but between 1838 and 1878 there were only 4. Despite this, between 1800 and 1900, of the 3524 people sentenced to hang in England and Wales, only 1353 were for murder. From 1868, public executions were discontinued and executions were carried out on gallows inside Newgate.

Michael Barrett was the last man to be hanged in public outside Newgate Prison (and the last person to be publicly executed in Great Britain) on 26 May 1868. In total (publicly or otherwise), 1,169 people were executed at the prison. The Old Bailey now stands on the site of Newgate Prison. A history of London's Newgate prison London ï¿½s Newgate prison. It is not possible to determine when Newgate first became a prison or when exactly the new gatehouse itself was originally built. Newgate was to be London 's 5th gate into the city. There are reliable records going back to 1218 of it being used to house criminals. It was finally demolished in 1904 having been rebuilt at least twice along the way. A new prison at Newgate was begun in 1770 and proceeded slowly. Before it could be finished, the building was badly damaged by fire during the Gordon riots of 1780 and it was not finally completed until 1785.

This building was then used in that form until 1856 when it was remodelled internally to reflect the new perceptions of what a prison should be like. London 's Millbank and Pentonville prisons had been designed to be the first modern prison and to practice the new "penitentiary system." This rebuild was very short lived as the building was very badly damaged, again by fire, in 1877 and had to be largely rebuilt. As a result of the Prisons Act of 1877, Newgate ceased to be an ordinary prison in 1882 and was used only for those awaiting trial and prisoners sentenced to death awaiting execution. Newgate had the great advantage, from the authorities' point of view at least, of being next door to the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) which was the trial venue for all of London 's most serious criminals. It saved the cost and security risk of transporting prisoners by horse drawn van from other prisons for their trial. The Central Criminal Court Act of 1856 permitted prisoners from anywhere in the country accused of a very serious offence to be tried at the Old Bailey.

The Act was passed to allow for poisoner, William Palmer (from Rugeley in Staffordshire), to get a fair trial free from local prejudice. The advent of an efficient railway system had made it possible to transport prisoners over considerable distances. Palmer was returned to Stafford prison for his execution. Similarly, Maria and Frederick Manning and Kate Webster were kept at Newgate during their trials and then returned to the Surrey Horsemonger Lane for execution. Newgate closed for good in late May 1902 so that the new Central Criminal Court which opened in 1907 (always known as the Old Bailey) could be built on the site. Here is a picture of Newgate just before demolition. The Debtor's door through which the condemned prisoners exited in the days of public hangings and the site of the gallows at that time are marked. Up to 1877, in its several incarnations, Newgate was the principal prison for London and Middlesex and housed all manner of prisoners of both sexes, including those remanded in custody and prisoners awaiting transportation or execution and those imprisoned for debt.

When Newgate closed, its male prisoners and indeed its gallows were transferred to Pentonville while the female prisoners were moved to Holloway prison, which had been recently renovated and turned into London's first women's prison. Conditions in Newgate in the early part of the 19th century were appalling and led to great efforts by early prison reformers such as John Howard and Elizabeth Fry to improve things. Elizabeth Fry was deeply shocked by the conditions that women were detained under, in the Female Quarter as the women's area was known, when she visited the prison in 1816. She found the place crowded with half naked women and their children. The women were typically waiting for transfer to the prison ships that would take them to the Colonies. Women were brought to Newgate from county prisons in the south of England to await transportation and kept there for weeks or months until a ship was available. Many of the ordinary women prisoners were drunk, due to the availability of cheap gin, and some were clearly deranged.

They were kept in leg irons if they could not afford to pay the Keeper of Newgate for "easement."ï¿½ Fry formed an "Association for the improvement of the female prisoners in Newgate" and as part of that, set up a school within the prison for the younger children in 1817. The following year, she gave evidence to Parliamentary Committee on her findings. She was able to get a proper Matron appointed to look after the women in 1817 and conditions slowly improved. Prisoners under sentence of death were kept shackled and apart from other prisoners and in the case of murderers, fed on bread and water for the final 2-3 days of their miserable lives before meeting the hangman. Their only permitted visitors were prison staff and the Ordinary (prison chaplain). Conditions improved after 1834, condemned prisoners spending around 2-3 weeks awaiting execution after the law was changed to allow three clear Sundays to pass before they were hanged. They were no longer kept in irons and were given better food than the ordinary prisoners. They were also permitted visits by their families and friends.

As was the crime capital of England , so it was that Newgate was the execution capital and between 1783 and 1902, a total of 1,169 people were put to death there or nearby (12 or 13 hangings being carried out at other locations prior to 1834). The total comprised 1,120 men and 49 women.ï¿½ The last remnants of the "Bloody Code" as it was known remained in force up to 1836. Over 200 felonies were punishable by death in 1800, although in practice people were only executed for about 20 of them. See analysis below. Those convicted of the more minor ones, although sentenced to death, typically had their punishment reduced to transportation. The concept of imprisonment as a punishment only really came in after 1840. Transportation ended around 1888. Public executions were carried outside Newgate in the lane known as the Old Bailey from the 9th of December 1783 (following the ending of hangings at Tyburn).

It is unclear where the gallows was erected before 1809 - contemporary reports talking of ï¿½outside Newgateï¿½ and ï¿½in the Old Bailey.ï¿½ï¿½ After 1809, almost all hangings took place on the portable gallows in front of the Debtorsï¿½ Door and continued here up to the 25th of May 1868 , when Michael Barrett became the last to hang for the Clerkenwell bomb outrage that killed seven people. Here is a photographic reconstruction of a typical group hanging. Three women were burned at the stake in the Old Bailey, for the crime of coining which was deemed to be high treason. They were Phoebe Harris, Margaret Sullivan and Catherine Murphy. In all three cases, they were first hanged until they were dead and then their bodies burnt. Similarly, the Cato Street conspirators who had also been convicted of high treason were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered there (the male punishment for high treason), but in fact were hanged and then beheaded (see later).

There were to be 567 public hangings, including those of 25 women, between January 1800 and May 1868. These drew huge crowds, especially if one of the prisoners was notorious. From 1752 to 1832, the bodies of those executed for murder were taken to Surgeon's Hall in the Old Bailey where they were publicly anatomised. Up to 1834, the bodies of persons executed for crimes other than murder could be returned to relatives for a fee. There were only two confirmed executions at Newgate in the years 1834-1836, those of John Smith and James Pratt, who were hanged for buggery on the 27th of November 1835 . After 1836, only murderers were to be hanged at Newgate and their bodies were buried in unmarked graves within the walls.

Ninety nine men and eight women were to suffer for this crime between 1837 and 1902.ï¿½ Of this total, 58 men and five women were executed in private between the 8th of September 1868 and the 6th of May 1902 when George Wolfe became the last person to be executed here. There were four double hangings, a triple and a quadruple hanging during this period. Executions and executioners at Newgate. From around 1771 to September 1786, when he died, Edward Dennis was the official executioner and carried out 201 hangings and the three burnings at Newgate. He had previously officiated at Tyburn from 1771. On Tuesday, the 9th of December 1783, he and William Brunskill hanged nine men and one woman (Frances Warren) side by side on the "New Drop" at Newgateï¿½s first execution ( see picture ). Note that they all have white nightcaps drawn over their heads.

Sessions, as trials at the Old Bailey were known at that time, were held eight times a year by then and it was normal to sentence those found guilty of crimes other than murder in groups at the end of the trial day.ï¿½ Murderers were sentenced at the end of their individual trials. Those sentenced to death for felony and not ï¿½respitedï¿½ (commuted to transportation) were also hanged in groups - men and women together. Multiple executions were the norm at this time and took place normally around six weeks after the Sessions finished and the Recorder of the Old Bailey had prepared and presented his report indicating which prisoners were recommended for reprieve and which were to be executed. From July 1752 onwards, murderers had to be hanged within two days of their sentence, unless this would have been a Sunday, which meant that they were typically hanged on a Monday and therefore usually separately from ordinary felons, this day continuing to be used at Newgate for murderers up to 1880. Ordinary criminals could be hanged on any day of the week, Wednesdays being the most common one.

Prisoners were led from the "Condemned hold" into the Press yard where their leg irons were removed and their wrists and arms tied. They were attended by the Ordinary and when they had all been prepared, were led across the yard to the Lodge and out through the Debtor's Door and up a flight of steps onto the gallows. Dennis hanged 95 men and one woman ( Elizabeth Taylor for burglary) between February and December of 1785 at Newgate, with 20 men being hanged on one day alone (Wednesday, the 2nd of February 1785). Dennis was often assisted at these marathons by the man who was to become his successor, William Brunskill, who went on to hang an amazing 537 people outside Newgate as principal hangman. He also executed a further 68 at Horsemonger Lane Gaol in the County of Surrey between 1800 (when it opened) and 1814.

A major tragedy occurred the triple hanging of Elizabeth Godfrey, John Holloway and Owen Haggerty when 27 witnesses died and some 70 were injured in the crowd.ï¿½ Click here for details of this sad case. John Langley took over from him in 1814 and hanged 37 men and three women in his three years in office, including Eliza Fenning. Click here for her story. He died in April 1817 and was succeeded by James Botting who was known as ï¿½Jemmyï¿½. Botting hanged 42 men and two women during his two year tenure, during which in 1818, shoplifting was removed from the list of capital crimes at the instigation of Sir Samuel Romilly. The gallows used by Dennis, Brunskill and Botting had two parallel beams from which a maximum of a dozen criminals could be hanged at once. ( see picture ) The platform was 10 feet long by 8 feet wide and was released by moving the lever or "pin" acting on a drawbar under the drop.

The condemned were given a drop of between one and two feet so death was hardly ever "instantaneous."ï¿½ On one occasion, presumably because the mechanism had failed a simple beam and cart was used to get the prisoners suspended, as had been done at Tyburn. This was for the execution of Ann Hurle and Methuselah Spalding in February 1804.ï¿½ This lapse attracted severe criticism in the press. In July 1819, James Foxen assumed the position having previously assisted Botting, and hanged 207 men and six women over the next 11 years. The five Cato Street conspirators became the last to suffer hanging and beheading on Monday, May 1st, 1820 , for conspiring to murder several members of the Cabinet. Foxen was assisted by Thomas Cheshire for this high profile execution and an unnamed and secret person who actually cut off the traitor's heads. ( see picture ). In view of their crime, their bodies were the property of the Crown and were buried within Newgate.

Thomas Cheshire, or Old Cheese as he was known, officiated as principal at a quadruple hanging on the 24th of March 1829 of three highway robbers and one man convicted of stealing in a dwelling house. These were Cheshire ï¿½s only executions as principal at Newgate. The gallows was now modified, from then on, having only one beam with capacity for six persons. ( see picture ) In 1820, there were 42 executions on seven ï¿½hanging daysï¿½ at Newgate, all carried out by James Foxen. Not one of these was for murder. Twelve were for "uttering" forged notes, 12 for robbery or burglary, and five for highway robbery. At this time, murderers, rapists, arsonists, forgers, coiners and highwaymen were virtually always executed and were seldom offered transportation. The largest multiple execution in 1820 was that of eight men on the 11th of December and the smallest was of three men on the 24th of October.

Sarah Price was the only woman to suffer in 1820, alongside six men, for "uttering" forged bank notes or coins on the 5th of December. On the eve of a hanging, the portable New Drop gallows was brought out by a team of horses and placed in front of the Debtor's Door of Newgate. Large crowds gathered around it and it would be guarded by soldiers with pikes. Wealthy people could pay as much as ï¿½10 for a seat in a window overlooking the gallows at the hanging of a notorious criminal. At around 7.30 a.m. , the condemned prisoners were led from their cells into the Press Yard where the Sheriff and the Ordinary (prison chaplain) would meet them. Their leg irons were removed by the prison blacksmith and Foxen and his assistant would bind their wrists in front of them with cord and also place a cord round their body and arms at the elbows. White nightcaps were placed on their heads. The prisoners would now be led across the Yard to the Lodge and then out through the Debtor's Door where they would climb the steps up to the gallows.

There would be shouts of "hats off" in the crowd. This was not out of respect for those about to die, but rather because the people further back demanded those at the front remove their hats so as not to obscure their view. Once assembled on the drop, Foxen would put the nooses round their necks while they prayed with the Ordinary. Female prisoners might have their dress bound around their legs for the sake of decency but the men's legs were left free. When the prayers had finished, the Under Sheriff gave the signal and the hangman moved the lever, which was connected to a drawbar under the trap, and caused it to fall with a loud crash, the prisoners dropping 12-18 inches and usually writhing and struggling for some seconds before relaxing and becoming still. If their bodies continued to struggle, the hangman, unseen by the crowd within the box below the drop, would grasp their legs and swing on them so adding his weight to theirs and thus ending their sufferings sooner. The dangling bodies would be left hanging for an hour before being either returned to their relatives or, in the case of murderers, sent for dissection.

Execution Broadsides were usually sold among the crowd, purporting to give the last confessions of the condemned. These were like tabloid newspapers of the day and were often total fabrication. As they were printed prior to the execution, they were quite often unused if a reprieve was granted after printing, not an uncommon occurrence at that time. They would show a stylised woodcut picture of the hanging and had details of the crime. Ordinary newspapers were very few in number at this time and relatively very expensive so were only read by the wealthy. William Calcraft took over from Foxen in March of 1829 and carried out 86 executions here, his first job being the hanging of the hated child murderer, Ester Hibner, on the 13th of that month. Prior to taking up the position, he had sold pies at hangings and had got to know Foxen and Cheshire . Calcraft was to go on to hang a total of 86 people, including six women at Newgate, before he was retired in 1872. One of his most famous cases was Francis Courvoisier, who had murdered his master, Lord William Russell.

Another was Britain 's first railway murderer, Franz Muller, who he publicly hanged on the 14th of November 1864 for killing Mr. Thomas Briggs. Calcraft carried out both the last public hanging at Newgate (Michael Barrett) and the first private one four months later, that of Alexander Mackay on the 8th of September 1868 . Mackay was 18 years old and had been convicted of the murder of Emma Goldsmith, his employer. The gallows had been erected in an enclosed yard near the Chapel, and the execution was attended by representatives of the Press. A little before 9.00 a.m., Mackay was led into the yard supported by the Chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Jones, and ascended the steps onto the platform where he joined in with Mr. Jones' prayers. Calcraft pulled the lever and Mackay dropped a few inches and took several minutes to become still, according to contemporary reports. George Smith assisted Calcraft at this hanging.ï¿½ The black flag was raised over the prison after the trap had opened.

His body was left hanging for an hour before being taken down and prepared for the formal inquest, which took place that afternoon. Mackay was then buried within the prison in an unmarked grave. Like his predecessors, Calcraft was also responsible for carrying out floggings at Newgate and was paid a salary with additional monies for hangings and floggings. With the advent of a comprehensive railway network, he was able to work over most of the country in his later years and became Britain 's principal hangman. During Calcraft's time, the number of executions fell dramatically (see below).ï¿½ Proper condemned cells had been constructed in Newgate during the early 1830's, created by knocking two ordinary cells into one ( see picture ) thus ending the use of the appalling "Condemned Hold" which was little more than a dark, feted dungeon. From 1848, condemned prisoners were guarded round the clock by two or three warders to prevent suicide. They took their exercise in a covered walkway known as Birdcage Walk or Dead Man's Walk, their cell being at the far end of this (the doorway visible in the photo ).

William Marwood was Britain 's next hangman and officiated at 17 executions, including that of 45 year old Francis Stewart , for killing her grandson. Assisted by George Incher, he hanged the four Lennie Mutineers for murder and mutiny on the 23rd of May 1876 in Newgate's only quadruple private execution. This hanging was widely reported in the press. In 1881, a purpose built execution shed pictured here , containing a new gallows, was erected in one of the yards. This picture shows the view that witnesses had of an execution.ï¿½ The lower half doors were closed once the prisoner and other officials had entered and all witnesses saw was the prisoner disappear from sight and the taught rope.ï¿½ This facility remained in use until closure in 1902, the gallows being then moved to Pentonville prison and first used there for the execution of John MacDonald on the 30th of September 1902 .

My friend, Aaron Bougourd, has kindly lent me this rare picture of the gallows and interior of the execution shed, one of the very few photos of a British gallows.ï¿½ This picture is copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without permission. You can see the metal bracket and chain hanging from the centre of the beam. Up to four brackets could be set up for multiple hangings. The lever is behind the right hand upright and there are pulleys for raising the trapdoors on each upright. A ladder is in the foreground leaning against the wall. Bartholomew Bins carried out one hanging after Marwood, that of Patrick O'Donnell, before handing it over to James Berry who performed 12 executions here between 1884 and 1890. Berry was to hang Mary Eleanor Wheeler in 1890. Click here for her story. He was replaced by James Billington who hanged 24 men and three women up to 1901, including Louisa Masset, the first person to be executed in Britain in the 20th century. Click here for her story.

He also executed the infamous baby farmer, Amelia Dyer who at 57, became the oldest woman to be hanged in modern times. Click here for more on baby farmers. Another of his famous customers was Thomas Neill Cream who, in December 1892, standing hooded and noosed on the trap said, "I am Jack the.... " just as the drop fell. In reality, he could not have been Jack the Ripper. Billington carried out the last triple execution at Newgate when he hanged Henry Fowler, Albert Milsom and William Seaman (for two different murders) on the 9th of June 1896 . The last hanging at Newgate was carried out by Billington's son, William, on the 6th of May 1902 . The prisoner was 21 year old George Wolfe, who had beaten and stabbed his girlfriend, Charlotte Cheeseman, to death. A grand juror recounts his visit to Newgate in the early 1880ï¿½s. It is customary for the Grand Jury of Middlesex to inspect Newgate Prison, and this we proceeded to do.

First we were shown casts of the heads of murderers, taken after execution, and in some instances bearing a terrible tell-tale depression in the neck. Next we examined the complicated fastenings by which ancient hangmen pinioned the doomed man, till Calcraft and Marwood introduced simpler adjustments. Here, too, were the irons in which prisoners were formerly confined, including a ponderous set once worn by Jack Sheppard, but in spite of which he managed to escape (but who was re-captured and hanged at Tyburn). We then inspected the cells, and visited a room since used as a kitchen, through which, in the days of public executions, the prisoner passed to the gallows. Then we were taken to the chapel, so contrived that the prisoners see only the clergyman, and to the condemned cell, dim and dreary enough to appal the stoutest heart.

We passed through the bleak passage, paved with flag-stones, beneath which the bodies of murderers are buried in quicklime and where their initials are rudely scratched upon the wall.ï¿½ Lastly we saw the place of execution, where everything is in such readiness that, as the warder informed us, in five minutes from receiving the order a man could be hanged. A strong chair, of a severe aesthetic shape, attracted our attention. This, we were told, was used when the convict was too faint to stand, and as the bolt was drawn the chair and its occupants crashed down together into the pit below. We gladly left this dismal scene; and after our foreman had entered the usual expression of approval in the visitors' book, we departed from the sunless prison of Newgate, having fulfilled the last duty of the grand jury of Middlesex. Analysis of executions between 1783 and 1902 and the crimes for which people were put to death. 1783-1799 559 people were put to death in this short period of just over 16 years, an average of 35 per year.

539 men and 17 women were hanged for a wide variety of crimes and three women were burnt for coining. (Women accounting for 3.6% of the executions) (A small number of these executions took place at or near where the crime was committed.) 1800-1899. In all there were 622 hangings at Newgate of which 30 were of women (4.8%), 568 were in public including those of 24 women. (See breakdown below) 1800-1833. There were 521 executions, all in public, comprising of 499 men and 22 women. Only 44 of these were for murder, the rest being for various other felonies, particularly burglary and forgery. See analysis below. 1835 Just two executions took place at Newgate when John Smith and John Pratt became the last to hang for sodomy in England on the 27th of November of this year. 1834, 1836 & 1838.

No executions at all at Newgate, as the number of capital crimes had reduced dramatically in the previous two to three years. 1837-1868 (public hangings). A further 42 men and three women were hanged in public up to the 25th of May 1868, all for murder (including five men who were executed for murder and piracy ï¿½ ï¿½The Flowery Landï¿½ pirates.) 1868-1899 (private hangings). 51 men and three women were executed for murder, including four men for murder and mutiny on a merchant ship called the ï¿½Lennieï¿½ (the ï¿½Lennie Mutineersï¿½). 1900-1902. Seven men and two women were hanged for murder in the 20th century prior to the closure of Newgate.

Analysis of the principal crimes for which people were executed for between 1800 and 1833 h2g2 - Life Inside Newgate Prison, London, UK - Edited Entry Life Inside Newgate Prison, London, UK Content from the guide to life, the universe and everything Life Inside Newgate Prison, London, UK Created The hellish noise, the roaring, swelling and clamour, the stench and nastiness [...] an emblem of hell itself. - Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe An abominable sink of beastliness and corruption. - Sir Stephen Jansen The Building The Central Criminal Court in London stands on the original site of Newgate Prison 1 . There has been a prison on this site since the 12th Century, if not before. It was rebuilt a number of times - Dick Whittington 2 left a bequest to rebuild it, and, in 1422, a licence was granted to the executors 'to re-edify the gaol of Newgate'. At the end of the 16th Century it had to be 'new fronted and new faced'; it also had to be rebuilt after the Great Fire in 1666.

It was considered a bottleneck a century later, and was demolished (including the gateway) in 1770. It took eight years 3 to rebuild. The Gordon rioters set fire to Newgate in 1780, and the interior was reconstructed for the final time. When the rebuilding was finished in 1672, the difference between the inside and the outside could not have been greater; it was a magnificent structure. Facing Snow Hill was a statue of Dick Whittington and his cat, underneath the emblematical figures of Liberty, Peace, Security and Plenty. On the east side there were statues depicting Justice, Fortitude and Plenty. Justice Those who refused to plead 4 would be taken to the prison and pressed until they changed their mind or died. This involved being tied, spread-eagled, to the floor wearing virtually nothing, and having a board laid on the top. Weights were added each day, and the prisoner given nothing but water and a few scraps of bread for days. If they managed to stay silent until they died, they could not be found guilty, and the crown could not confiscate their estates.

Prior to 1426, the punishment for refusing to plead was starvation, but the method was changed because too many prisoners were allowing themselves to die. Life Inside With over 350 crimes punishable by death 5 in the 18th century - and transportation, branding and other forms of public penance taking care of many of the rest - long prison sentences were almost unheard of. However, many stayed in prison until they died, despite receiving a short sentence, or no sentence at all. With no police force, catching criminals was very difficult. Execution was supposed to deter other would-be lawbreakers. Of the 150 prisons in London, Newgate was the largest, most notorious and the worst. It had room for between 40 and 50 prisoners at various times. Because prisons were privately run, any time spent in prison had to be paid for by the prisoner; gaoler in those times was a lucrative position, and one that had to be paid for. 'Garnish' had to be paid on arrival, payments for candles, soap and other supplies had to be made. Heavy manacles - often painfully constricting - were attached to prisoners and then secured to chains and staples in the floor.

The prisoner could pay to have lighter manacles fitted ('easement of irons'), or have them removed entirely. The freedom to walk around could also be bought, if enough money changed hands. Prisoners were also housed according to their ability to pay, ranging from a private cell with a cleaning woman and a visiting prostitute, to simply lying on the floor with no cover and barely any clothes. Lice were everywhere, and only a quarter of the prisoners survived until their execution day. Infectious diseases like typhus - the so-called 'gaol-fever', which was spread throughout the prison by lice and fleas, killed far more people than the gallows. Food was provided by the authorities, and by charities to those who could not pay, but cooking wasn't included and so it was often eaten raw. Drink was also available - the prison had a bar - although the prices were extortionate. Leaving prison was not simply a matter of finishing a sentence and walking out. A departure fee had to be paid and, until it was, prisoners could not leave. Those who died inside had to stay there as a rotting corpse until relatives found the money for it to be released.

The stench was unimaginable, and unavoidable for the incarcerated. Nearby shops were often forced to close in the summer because of the unbearable smell. It wasn't unusual for children to be conceived and born inside the prison, for men and women freely mingled, and the women found that they could swap sex for food; if they became pregnant they could 'plead the belly' in an attempt to avoid hanging. Surviving children were taken to the workhouse, where their chances weren't much better. Prisoners often had their entire families inside the prisons with them, including any family pets 6 . Spiritual Life Prison chaplains (called 'Ordinaries') held services inside the prison, although the chaos there often resulted in the Ordinary having to shout to be heard during a sermon. They also held the service for the condemned. Gathered around their coffins, the prisoners would listen to a lengthy sermon on the Sunday before they were taken to the Tyburn tree, with the fee-paying public in the gallery. Ordinaries also attended the condemned in the prison on the eve of their execution.

Supposedly bringing them spiritual peace of mind, they were usually more interested in getting prisoners' stories so that they could sell them as broadsheets at huge profit on the way to Tyburn. The tenor bell in the bell tower at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate was rung on mornings when there was an execution. The 'execution bell' was a hand bell that was rung for other services concerning condemned prisoners; it was also rung outside the condemned cell at midnight. The bellman would repeat the following verse three times as he paced outside the condemned cells. A merchant taylor, Robert Dove, gave £40 to the parish in 1604 to ensure that this was done, in the hope that the prisoners would seek redemption. All you that in the condemned hold do lie Prepare you, for tomorrow you will die. Watch all, and pray, the hour is drawing near That you before th'Almighty must appear Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not t'eternal flames be sent; And when St Sepulchre's bell tomorrow tolls, The Lord have mercy on your souls!

Newgate Prison acquired its own bell in 1783, and the tenor bell was no longer used on execution mornings. Executions When executions were stopped at Tyburn, they moved to Newgate, and public burnings 7 and hangings were carried out in the open area in front of the smoke-blackened prison until 1868. Hangings were carried out on the 'new drop' – a portable gallows with a collapsible platform. Intended to break necks and bring death more quickly, this unfortunately depended on the hangman making sure that the rope was the right length, and very few got it right, if they even bothered to try. After 1868, hangings were carried out within the walls of the prison. 'Dead Men's Walk' was the burial ground for those executed here, under the stone flags of the corridor that connected the prison with the adjoining courts. Suspended over a pit in the prison yard, the gallows were built so that they could hold three prisoners at a time.

This was also intended to break necks, but most of the prisoners continued to slowly strangle to death After Newgate Was Demolished When Newgate prison was finally demolished in 1902 the gallows were moved to Pentonville Prison, where more criminals were executed than at any other British prison up to the last execution in July 1961. The male prisoners were also moved to Pentonville, and the women moved to the recently-renovated Holloway Prison for women. The Central Criminal Court next door was also knocked down with the prison. Building began on the site in 1903 (using as much of the prison stone as possible), and three years later the new Central Criminal Court (The old Bailey) was finished. Fascinating Facts CRIME & PUNISHMENT route london-footprints.co.uk ROUTE & WHAT TO SEE (NORTH) This linear walk is about 1ï¿½ miles. Bus 63 goes back to the start. There are plenty of places for refreshments.

Begin at Blackfriars Station (District & Circle lines or main line) Use the subway system to exit 8 and walk along New Bridge Street Site 1 BRIDEWELL on the west side between Tudor Street and Bride Lane (Bridewell Place) This was built as a palace for Henry VIII but his son Edward VI gave it to the City for use as a workhouse and prison for petty offenders. The name was adopted by other similar institutions. The present building at No.14, which dates from 1802, has a plaque and a keystone above the gateway depicting Edward. Continue to Ludgate Circus and turn right into Ludgate Hill Site 2 LUDGATE spanned Ludgate Hill where now stands Ye Olde London pub. As with other gates in the city wall this was demolished as a traffic hazard in 1760 having served as a prison from the late 14th century. There is a plaque on St. Martin-within-Ludgate Church.

Return to Ludgate Circus and turn right along Farringdon Street Site 3 THE FLEET on the east side of Farringdon Street between Old Sea Coal Lane & Old Fleet Lane The Fleet was the first purpose-built prison and operated from soon after the Norman Conquest until Victorian times. Until the 1730s it would have been on the banks of the Fleet River. Right along Fleet Lane to the end Site 4 CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT (OLD BAILEY) This replaced the notorious Newgate Prison in 1902. Stones from the demolished prison were used in its faï¿½ade and doors and other fitments are on display in the Museum of London. The public galleries of the courts are open 10-1 & 2-5 Monday  Friday (entry restrictions) Left along Old Bailey and right into Newgate Street Site 5 NEWGATE stood across Newgate Street at No. 121/2. Newgate was originally a gatehouse prison which was rebuilt with a bequest from Richard Whittington in 1423. It was from here that Jack Shepherd famously escaped having been chained in a third floor cell.

Following the construction of the new building in the 1770s most of the old prison was demolished, although some remained on the north side until 1781. There is a plaque on the Central Criminal Court, which stands on the extended Newgate site. Return to the crossroads Site 6 ST. SEPULCHRE CHURCH The bells of this church were tolled for an execution at Newgate. It has on display a handbell rung by the priest who visited condemned prisoners on the morning of their execution. A tunnel ran between the church and the prison. Site 7 THE VIADUCT TAVERN This Victorian pub uses former cells as storage areas Go into Giltspur Street Site 8 GILTSPUR STREET COMPTER on east side now Merrill Lynch premises (marked with a plaque) This was a sheriffs prison designed by George Dance the Younger in 1791 Continue along this street Site 9 WEST SMITHFIELD A place of execution. There are monuments with themed ironwork to William Wallace (Scottish Patriot) & the protestant martyrs of Mary I reign on the walls of St. Bartholomews Hospital.

Go through the Grand Central Avenue of Smithfield Meat Market. Cross Charterhouse Street and bear right along St John Street Site 10 HICKS HALL was sited in the middle of the road Sir Baptist Hicks had a sessions house built at his own expense in 1612. There was a room where bodies of criminals were publically dissected. Much decayed, it was demolished in 1782 to be replaced with the Middlesex Sessions House on Clerkenwell Green. (Site 12) Bear left along St Johns Lane. Beyond the gate this becomes St Johns Square which continues across the Clerkenwell Road. Continue through Jerusalem Passage and left into Aylesbury Street Site 11 CLERKENWELL GREEN This has been a site of execution with a pound, pillary and Watch House at one time. Site 12 OLD MIDDLESEX SESSIONS HOUSE West end of Clerkenwell Green Dating from 1779 this was once the largest and busiest court house in England. It served as courtrooms until the 1920s. Now a Masonic Centre the basement cells, including a condemned cell, have become a bar area.

It has two ghosts from its past history. From the Green follow Clerkenwell Close (the Crown pub is on the corner). Go right into Sans Walk and take the passage on the left Site 13 CLERKENWELL HOUSE OF DETENTION The basement areas remained below the former Hugh Myddleton School, now re-developed as apartments. For a time these were open to view with displays on prisons and prison life. As a remand prison it was one of Londons busiest between 1846 and 1878. Return to and continue along Clerkenwell Close then right into Corporation Row Site 14 CORPORATION ROW The Fenian Society, forerunners of the I.R.A. in attempting to release prisoners blew up several houses in this street. There is a memorial to the people killed in St Jamess Church, Clerkenwell. The ringleader Michael Barrett was the last person to be publicly executed outside Newgate Prison in 1868. Return and follow Northampton Road to the right past the LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES These are open to the public for research and contain amongst other things records of the Middlesex Sessions.

Right into Catherine Griffiths Court continuing through Pine Street then left to road junction Site 15 MOUNT PLEASANT SORTING OFFICE (site of COLDBATH FIELDS) In 1790 the site of medicinal springs was cleared for the Middlesex House of Correction, opened in 1794. This was later known as Cold Bath Prison then Clerkenwell Gaol. Its harsh regime included working a treadmill that did nothing more than turning some sails. Originally a criminal jail it became a debtors prison before closing in 1885. The old prison site was transferred to the Post Office in 1889 and its buildings were gradually replaced. The last sections were demolished in 1929 for an extension of the Letter Office.

ï¿½ london-footprints.co.uk 2006 The Gaol: The Story of Newgate – London’s Most Notorious prison by Kelly Grovier | London Evening Standard The Gaol: The Story of Newgate – London’s Most Notorious prison by Kelly Grovier Thursday 24 July 2008 14:45 BST Click to follow The Evening Standard In case we should ever congratulate ourselves too much on our civilisation and peacefulness, books like this are salutary. If anyone should ever believe too much in English decency, or become too complacent about the elegance of Georgian London or the beauty of Elizabethan verse, or feel warmth towards the jolly old rogue Henry VIII, we should remember the racks, thumbscrews and burnings, the hanging, drawing and quartering, the public executions and rank injustice that lurked behind. The Gaol is the latest work in the school of Londonology made popular by Peter Ackroyd, which revels in the city's dank dark side, in its poverty and squalor, and the dazzling if desperate ingenuity of people trapped in it.

It is the history of Newgate Prison, once the most important in the country, and therefore also a history of the most spectacular forms of crime and punishment in London. It is almost as much about Tyburn, where prisoners were taken from Newgate to be executed, as it is about the prison itself. It is a story of eyewatering misery. It describes people shackled forever in sewage-filled cells, and executions for minor crimes, including a 14-year-old girl sentenced to death for helping a forger, although reprieved at the last minute by aristocratic intervention. It tells of the tens of thousands slaughtered and tortured under the Tudors for religious and political dissent, cruelty on a scale that a Mugabe would be challenged to match. It also describes the quaint custom whereby people could bid for and buy the post of Keeper in the knowledge that they could recover their investment by extorting money from the prisoners for food, bedding or freedom from torture. This is what would now be called a Private Finance Initiative.

In The Gaol, Newgate Prison, which stood where the Old Bailey courts now stand, becomes a murky prism for the history and culture of London during the period of its existence, from the late 12th to the early 20th century. Dick Whittington endowed it, and Thomas Malory, author of Le Morte d'Arthur, and Christopher Marlowe were imprisoned there. It inspired Moll Flanders, the Beggar's Opera, the writing of Dickens and the paintings of Hogarth. It also inspired the Victorian reform movement which, starting with prisons, then turned its attention to slums. Grovier tells these stories, as well as those of picturesque criminals like the serial escapee Jack Sheppard. He does so in a clear, readable style that takes the reader at a pleasantly trotting pace through the centuries of oppression and inhumanity. A few affectations, like that of giving each chapter a monosyllabic title from prison slang, grate. These apart, the book does not pretend to new discoveries or deep insights, but only to tell the story.

The history of Newgate is a great idea for a book, both for the intricate and fathomless horrors of the place and for the way it filters London as a whole. It is such a great idea, in fact, that The Gaol is far from the first. As recently as 2006 Stephen Halliday published Newgate: London's Prototype of Hell, which is duly credited here. But if you want to glimpse the barbarism on which our admired, world-famous city is built, The Gaol is not a bad place to start. Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk For over 800 years Newgate was the grimy axel around which British society slowly twisted. This is where such legendary outlaws as Robin Hood and Captain Kidd met their fates, where the rapier-wielding playwrights Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe sharpened their quills, and where flamboyant highwaymen like Claude Duval and James Maclaine made legions of women swoon. While Londons theatres came and went, the gaol endured as Londons unofficial stage. From the Peasants Revolt to the Great Fire, it was at Newgate that Englands greatest dramas unfolded.

By piecing together the lives of forgotten figures as well as re-examining the prisons links with more famous individuals, from Dick Whittington to Charles Dickens, this thrilling history goes in search of a ghostly place, erased by time, which has inspired more poems and plays, paintings and novels, than any other structure in British history. More about: Historic Prisons - London for Free London for Free You are here: Home / Places to Visit / Historic Prisons Historic Prisons London has had many prisons, the most famous one being the Tower of London. Victorian London was notorious for its prisons and places of correction – the harsh conditions and cruel treatment of prisoners being vividly described by Dickens. Read more about the history of London’s prisons. Though the Victorian places no longer exist it is possible to visit the sites where they once stood, which will also take you into interesting areas of London. All for free, of course. It is possible to visit the Tower of London (admission charge). Tower of London The Tower of London is the most popular tourist attraction in London and one of the greatest examples of Norman architecture anywhere in the world.

It was begun by William I around 1066 and built deliberately just outside the City boundary to warn potential troublemakers. It was then extended by a number of monarchs until Edward I, and has been a palace, prison, menagerie, place of execution and stronghold for the crown jewels. Famous occupants have included Sir Francis Drake, Anne Boleyn (executed by sword), Sir Walter Raleigh and Rudolph Hess during the second world war. Nearest underground station: Tower Hill Newgate Prison Newgate prison existed on the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey for seven hundred years. The prison was destroyed and re-built several times throughout its history, including during the Great Fire of London and during prison riots. By 1783, it was London’s main prison and the city’s gallows were moved from Tyburn to Newgate Street. In 1868, public executions were discontinued and held instead inside the prison. The prison was demolished in 1904. Nearest underground stations: St Pauls Marshalsea Prison Mostly known as a debtors prison, Marshalsea prison existed in Borough High Street for over five hundred years – closing in 1842.

It was a national prison, second only to the Tower in importance, and became renowned worldwide thanks to Dickens, who wrote about life in a debtors prison in his novels such as Little Dorritt. Dickens’ father was sent to Marshalsea in 1824 owing a debt of forty pounds. It is one of the few historic prisons where part of the original buildings remain. You can still see one of its walls and two original gate arches in the yard next to St George the Martyr church. Nearest underground station: Borough Bridewell House of Correction Established as a house of correction in 1556 in a former royal palace (Bridewell), this prison was for housing vagrants and homeless children and punishing petty criminals and unruly women. The prison also contained workrooms and a hospital. It was largely destroyed in the Great Fire of London and re-built soon after, before being finally demolished in 1863. All that remains of the prison buildings is the gateway on New Bridge Street at number 14. The rest of the old site is now occupied by the Unilever Building on the corner.

Nearest railway station: Blackfriars Cold Bath Fields Prison This large prison in Clerkenwell was also known as Clerkenwell Jail. It was built in 1794 on the site of what is now the Royal Mail sorting office at Mount Pleasant. Some of the prison wall pillars still remain. It was renowned for the harshness of its punishments, including enforced silences and solitary confinement. By the mid nineteenth century, its name had changed to Middlesex House of Correction. It was closed in 1877 and demolished in 1889. Nearest railway station: Farringdon Fleet Prison Situated on the eastern side of Farringdon Road, Fleet Prison was mainly a debtors’ prison. William Penn was held there in 1707-1709 for debt. However,the prison also held political and religious prisoners. In 1601, the poet John Donne was imprisoned in it for marrying a woman without her father’s consent. The prison was destroyed in the Great Fire of London and soon after, re-built. However, it no longer exists today.

There was large scale prison corruption, with prisoners being allowed out of the prison on payment of fees to the keeper, and those who were unable to afford the fees, being forced to share crowded, lice-ridden cells. Dickens described the prison in Pickwick Papers. It was finally closed down in 1842. Nearest railway station: Blackfriars Clerkenwell House of Detention There has been a prison on this site since 1616, although the only remaining part of it – its tunnels – were built in 1844. It was largely used as a detentional prison and an estimated 10,000 people a year passed through its gates. The prison was demolished in 1890, but an entire underground section survived and lay undisturbed until the bombs of the Blitz saw it reopened as an air-raid shelter. The site of the prison is now occupied by the Hugh Myddleton School building (now converted into residential flats). However, it is possible to access the tunnels from Clerkenwell Close, behind St James Church.

Nearest underground stations: Farringdon, Angel Gatehouse Prison Built in 1370, it was originally part of a prison which existed in Westminster Abbey’s gatehouse. Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in it on the eve of his execution at the Tower of London in 1618. It is believed that the saying, “stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage” was written here by the poet, Lovelace, in 1642. In 1689, Samuel Pepys was imprisoned in it. It was demolished in 1776 and the site is now occupied by Westminster School’s Crimean War Memorial (the tall column) which stands in front of Westminster Abbey, in Broad Sanctuary. Nearest underground station: Westminster King’s Bench Prison This prison originally stood on the east side of Borough High Street, and in 1755 it moved to a larger area at St George’s Fields. The majority of prisoners were debtors, and they were often joined by their families. Dickens wrote about it in David Copperfield, with Mr Micawber being imprisoned in it for debt.

In 1828, the prison was described as “the most desirable place of incarceration in London” – the courtyard was full of traders and there were a large number of gin shops on site. Rich prisoners even had a regular cook to prepare their meals. By the 1870’s the prison had closed. Nearest underground station: Borough Clink Prison This was a small prison connected to Winchester Palace on Bankside. First mention of it is in 1509 and it was destroyed in 1780. It was for those who committed offences on Bankside and in the nearby brothels, which were controlled by the Bishop of Winchester. Prisoners included both Protestant and Catholic prisoners of conscience, and towards the end of its existence it was also a debtor’s prison. The Clink Prison Museum, in Clink Street, sits on the site of the original prison. Nearest underground station: London Bridge Horsemonger Lane Jail Built as a model prison in 1791, and renamed Southwark County Gaol in 1859. The gatehouse had gallows on the roof and it was here that Charles Dickens witnessed a double hanging in 1849.

This led him to write to The Times condemning public execution and helped lead to its abolition in this country. 131 men and 4 women were executed at the jail between 1800 and 1877. The jail itself closed in 1878 and was demolished in 1880. Newington Gardens now occupies the site of the jail. Nearest underground station: Borough

Question: What now stands on the site of the notorious Newgate prison?
Answer: The Old Bailey